World

Sharks Trigger Tweets That Warn Australian Beachgoers of Attacks

In the Jaws movies, an ominous theme song tells viewers when they should expect to see a shark attack. In real life, several hundred sharks in Western Australia have been issuing their own warnings to beachgoers — via Twitter.

Scientists have tagged more than 300 sharks in the area with transmitters, according to Sky News. Each time one of the tagged sharks swims around 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the beach, signals trigger a tweet to automatically publish on Surf Life Saving Western Australia's Twitter account (@SLSWA).

The project has flagged hundreds of instances of mostly tiger and bronze whaler sharks — but also a few white sharks — approaching Western Australian beaches since June. Tweets describe the time, type of shark and its approximate location.

Western Australia has seen six deadly shark attacks in the past two years. Most recently, 35-year-old surfer Chris Boyd died after an attack late last month.

The string of deaths in in the area has prompted local officials to set up "kill zones," where professional fisherman will be able to kill any sharks of a certain size.

Research suggests global shark populations may be dwindling. A study published in Marine Policy earlier this year estimates that humans kill around 100 million sharks each year — that's one out of every 15 on the planet.

This infographic (click to enlarge) will give you a better idea of which species — humans or sharks — is deadlier to the other.

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